‘will-writing company which accuses traditional law firms of ‘failing the bereaved’ has been fined £30,000 for making nuisance calls. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed the penalty against Assist Law, based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.’

‘With Ilott due to be heard in the Supreme Court on 12th December 2016[1], Nicola Phillipson considers the impact the case has had upon claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Act”) and wonders whether the importance of the various decisions has in fact been overblown?’

‘A daughter cut out of her entrepreneur father’s £1million will because he believed grown-up children should “look after themselves” has been refused a slice of his fortune by a judge. For Danielle Ames, unemployment was “a lifestyle choice” and she was fit and able to work, said Judge David Halpern QC.’

‘In Randall v Randall [2016] EWCA Civ 494, the Court of Appeal considered whether a creditor of a beneficiary of an estate had sufficient standing to bring a probate claim to challenge the validity of a purported will of the testatrix.’

‘Britain’s changing demographics will mean a huge shift in demand for legal services, towards managing the wealth and lives of the growing proportion of elderly people in the population, according to a study forecasting legal needs in 2025.’

‘Ministry of Justice figures show there has been a steep rise in the number of wills being contested in court, and many lawyers think it is because of more complex relationships, with divorces and remarriages.’

‘The case of Ilott v Mitson has received quite a lot of publicity last week. In brief, a woman who had been estranged from her late mother for 26 years since she was 17 was given an award from her mother’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, despite the fact that her late mother had made it perfectly clear that she did not wish her daughter to get a penny. It sparked some controversy in the press and other media.’Full story

‘There has been a huge growth in the number of inheritance disputes in recent years due partly to an ‘’increasingly ageing population’’ according to Adam Draper, partner at Irwin Mitchell solicitors who specialises in inheritance disputes.’

‘Leaving instructions for what should happen to your finances after your death is a serious matter – but for some the temptation to cause mischief or raise a smile from beyond the grave is too much to resist.’

‘No one can have avoided the recent publicity surrounding the case of Ilott -v- Mitson (2015). The case concerned the estate of the late Melita Jackson who died in 2004 and her estranged daughter Heather. Heather hadn’t been in touch with her mother since she left home at 17, 26 years previously, and who was excluded from her late mother’s Will. The daughter made a claim against Melita’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the Act) for reasonable financial provision.’

‘When Melita Jackson decided to disinherit her daughter Heather, she knew what she was doing, and her decision was clear. Now a court has ruled that Heather still has a right to a share of her estate. As Britain experiences a surge in will disputes, is our sense of what we owe our children changing?’